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Patients who get an explanation of the benefits of colorectal cancer screening from their primary care physician are more likely to get recommended testing, a study found. "A unique finding of our study is that the more elements patients reported their [primary care physicians] discussing, the greater the likelihood of those patients completing screening," the researchers wrote in the the American Journal of Managed Care.

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Physicians want more information on and validation of gene expression profile testing for colorectal cancer. There are more than a dozen tests to identify patients with stage II CRC who are at risk of recurrence and therefore candidates for chemotherapy, but the FDA has not cleared any of them for marketing.

Patient survey data found those who had trouble with numeracy skills may have more negative feelings about colorectal cancer screening and be less likely to have the test, U.K. researchers said. The study showed people who had trouble using numbers were more likely to think a colorectal cancer screening test was disgusting or embarrassing and were more likely to be afraid of getting an abnormal result. They also tended to not know as much about colorectal cancer.

Adding a pamphlet with simplified information about colorectal cancer screening to a fact sheet mailing may make it more likely people will read the information and understand it better, Northwestern University researchers reported at the Society of Behavioral Medicine annual meeting. The study found the added materials did not, however, appear to increase the likelihood that people would get screened for colorectal cancer.

South Florida physicians are stepping up efforts to convince black, male patients to get colorectal cancer screenings because African-Americans have a higher mortality rate from the disease, often because the disease isn't caught soon enough. "If you get diagnosed at an advanced stage, it is less likely to be curable," said gastroenterologist Dr. Daniel Sussman of the University of Miami.

A study found 55% of colorectal cancer survivors got recommended surveillance testing and 73% had nonrecommended metastatic testing, according researchers at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Lower rates of screening were found among colon cancer survivors ages 75 and older, while younger age and comorbidities were linked with higher rates of nonrecommended metastatic disease testing